The opportunity to attend pen and stationery shows is important for many reasons. Meeting and making new friends, getting to handle products in person, and stumbling across new and interesting makers. Especially - as was the case at Stationery Fest with Soichi Yoshikawa of Yoshikawa Paper Co. - getting to speak in person with someone who is unbelievably passionate about their products, AND that travelled halfway around the world to be there.
My goal on Thursday morning of the Fest was to visit the Cute Things From Japan table first thing. It was swarmed most of Wednesday - and would be most of Thursday, too - but getting there early afforded me two things: one, time to shop, and two, to learn about the paper products that Soichi had brought to display in conjunction with Cute Things.
Soichi’s passion came through in our short time together. The way he talks about paper, his desire to get you involved in touching and testing the products, the care that goes into each offering - you can see more here in Inky Rocks’ video - is contagious. So contagious that I came home with one of the most expensive dollar per sheet notepads I have ever bought, and was happy I did!
The Sutenai Recycled Washi Paper Note Pad was not the only product I came home with from Yoshikawa Paper, but is the one I am discussing today. It is a recycled washi paper, produced from discarded washi paper and paper garbage. Normally, paper products with the word “recycled” in the description are instantly avoided by fountain pen users, but that wasn’t exactly the case with this A5 note pad. In fact, it was their fountain pen ink writing sample at the table that sold me, which is also seen on the product page at Cute Things.
I went right into this recycled washi paper page with my cadre of Extra Fine nibs. They performed well, but not perfectly. There is some feathering, and a little bleed and ghosting, but not through to the page behind. The page was smooth, which was unexpected given the visibility of the different fibers in the paper. I had no issue with the nib grabbing anything on the surface while writing. The back side of the page does have slightly more texture than the front, but the nib and ink performance was essentially the same, but not as smooth.
What stood out to me the most was how well the widest, wettest nib I used handled this paper. My Harmonic nib is ground into a soft cursive italic, and loaded with Pilot Blue Back - possibly my perfect combination for this paper. No feathering, no bleeding or ghosting, and there is even the slightest shading and sheen that appears at the correct angle. This is what I had hoped for when purchasing this note pad, which - again - mimics the sample I saw.
Awesome string binding and a clean perforation.
Other pens and pencils work well. The 0.5 mm Ohto Flash Gel had no feathering, but the slightest ghosting. Ballpoint ink and pencil graphite were both great, as expected. Sharpie LOL. Watching the ink spread as I wrote was kind of fun, but no, not an option here.
Interestingly, given the tan-ish base color of the page, ink colors look nice on the page. I’ve always liked how colors look on good kraft paper, and this output is along those lines. Blues are especially nice, and the deep Pink looks almost as it does on a lighter background page.
Sutenai Recycled Washi Paper falls into the specialty paper category for me. I love and enjoy using it, but there are a couple of things that would prevent me from wanting to build a 200-page A5 hardbound notebook with it as my primary notebook. Firstly, given my preference for Extra Fine nibs, the feathering could get to me after a while. It’s not that bad, but I also don’t want to have to think about when I’m writing. Secondly, it is expensive. I paid $40 for a 50 page pad, which works out to 80 cents per page. I’m fine with the price for such an interesting, different, and unique product, but it couldn’t be my one and only paper. But on special occasions - letter writing, for example - it is a fantastic option to stand out from the crowd.
While I did pick up other paper from Yoshikawa Paper Co., I forgot to pick up a standard washi paper to compare this one to. That just gives me something to look forward to the next time I get to talk with Soichi. Hopefully that’s sooner, not later!
(I paid regular retail price for this product at Stationery Fest 2024 from Yoshikawa Paper Co./Cute Things From Japan.)
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